Spring has sprung in Kentucky

I got home from work today and promptly had Ethan open the window while I opened the backdoor and proceeded to get both boys dressed and shod (I think that's the word) to go enjoy the beautiful weather.  Ethan went out back and immediately said, "MAMA!  The fwowers growed!"  (he totally had to repeat that 3 times for me to get 'the flowers growed' out of what he was saying).  Alex's shoes were not totally on yet when Ethan went outside with a ball in his hands which made that process take longer.  Alex freaked totally thinking 1) his brother was leaving him & 2) he was going out to play without him.  Ethan actually had to come back in and sit with Alex so I could finish getting his shoes on.

The boys had so much fun.  Alex was just wandering around checking out the different balls that had spent the winter in Ethan's play house which were now spread out since Ethan's first order of business was to clean out his house.  Ethan proceeded to ride his "mococycle" (big wheel) and showed me that he is now big enough and strong enough with enough coordination to actually pedal - such a good boy.  Then he remember the important thing - there's sidewalk chalk inside the seat of the bike.  YEAH!  Both boys proceeded to write all over the patio.  To be honest, Alex kept coming inside to try to write on the table and kitchen floor as well.  Ethan & I finally convinced him the chalk was better OUTside.  We have 2 old sponge mops outside the backdoor - mostly because we forgot we had one when we bought another and put the first outside and forgot to throw it away and then noticed a nasty odor in the laundry room and discovered it was the 2nd mop - then forgot to throw it away as well.  Not to worry, the boys put them to good use as erasers for the chalk. 

They continued to play while I started dinner.  All of a sudden I heard from the backyard [no they weren't unsupervised; I could see them out the window, the door was still open and the backyard is fenced and locked with a padlock - they were trapped], "MAMA!  HELP!"  It wasn't a panicky "help" but empathic none the less.  I went to see what he needed as he seemed fine in the window - turns out he was trying to get in the swing and it kept moving on him.  OK - no biggie.  I helped him get in and tried to push him but only got 1 small push in for him before Alex planted himself in front of the swing and refused to move while he tried to either pull Ethan out or climb in with him.  Since this is definitely a one person swing, Ethan agreed that he would let Alex swing for a bit and Ethan would swing later. 

He had alterior motives - he wanted to push his brother.  They both enjoyed this immensely as you can see in the pictures below.  In the video, Alex has just stopped laughing and Ethan was going to push again but was trying to pose also (a habit of his when cameras come out) so I had to tell him to go ahead and then he needed to make sure his brother understood what was going on so said "laugh Alex" at the end.  It would be a longer video but I had to delete pictures off the camera which I've now done so won't have this problem if the situation presents itself again tomorrow.

Ethan, as you an see, proceeded to slide when he wasn't pushing his brother on the swing.  They both played until dinner was ready and apparently worked up an appetite as they then both ate their dinners without much coaxing.  Popsicles for dessert in the backyard and Ethan's turn swinging rounded out our relaxing evening.  It was really wonderful.  So glad for Spring and a backyard in which to enjoy it!

The Green-Eyed Monster

So Ethan was always a Daddy's boy unless he was sick, then he wanted me.  This made sense since Steve was home all day with him until he was 18 months old - lots of quality time.  This didn't really bother me because I still got lots of loves and kisses and snuggle time.  Then Alex came along and was pretty much a Mama's boy.  He didn't want to snuggle with Daddy - he wanted Mama.  From the moment I would walk into his line of sight, he'd be all over me.  This started tapering off a bit lately and the dynamic began to change.

Alex no longer wanted to be with me so much when I was home.  He's totally mobile now and can play so was completely content to do that with any of us - me, Steve or Ethan.  If he hurts himself, Daddy can kiss it just as well as Mama can - he isn't biased either way anymore.  So all of sudden Ethan has started asking me to cuddle with him or even rock him to sleep (which he'll even request right after waking up - he really means for me just to rock with him but since usually when I'm rocking, I'm rocking Alex to sleep, Ethan asks me to rock him to sleep).  This is really the sweetest thing but poor kid - he doesn't get much quality time because the second he climbs into my lap, Alex is ALL over me.  I could have just asked Alex to come to me and snuggle and he'd have told me no and run the other direction, but if his brother climbs up, he is like a little boy to candy - all over me.  He will even try to push his brother out of the way to get "his" spot.  I usually end up with one on my left and one on the right rocking in the chair - not very comfortable as one of them is plenty heavy by himself but I can't very well pick one over the other at that point.

I've realized though that Ethan wanting this time now is partly due to his own jealousy and insecurity.  His brother is now taking more of his time from his Daddy and he used to be able to just climb up on my lap if his Daddy was busy with something else but then Alex came along and was taking that spot, too.  He was not jealous of Alex earlier on - he was too busy being completely infatuated with his brother.  Now, however, it's starting to sink in that he has to share his toys AND his Mama & Daddy with this other kid.  Couple that with everyone telling him what a "big boy" he is now and it's a bit much for him.  I thought I had a problem with him growing out of the "baby" stage but he's having a hard time with it a little bit himself.  Don't get me wrong, there are several things he wants to do when he "gets bigga" but he still wants to be the little boy who gets cuddled and loved on, too.

Alex is a bit outrageous though with his jealousy.  At this point I almost have to get Ethan to come cuddle with me in order to get any of Alex's time at all.  He's too busy to cuddle; even when he's so tired he can't stand up straight, there's still too many other cooler things he could do than snuggle with his Mama.  Unless Ethan wants to cuddle.  That is absolutely not ok with Alex as I've said.  But it's starting to get really bad - he doesn't just shove his brother to the side; he'll smack at him or pull his hair, too.  That is not ok and we need to break that habit quickly.  Steve says when Ethan is on his lap, Alex comes over as well to join them.  But unlike with how he refuses to leave my lap until after Ethan does; Steve says with him, Alex just climbs up, sits a sec and hops back down to play again. 

OK - I admit it's nice that my boys fight over me but when it comes to hitting and pulling hair, I draw the line.  The green-eyed monster is here in the Waters house and now that Daddy is home all the time, it's showing up more often.  My first baby is feeling the pull of Mama & Daddy away from him by his brother and not happy about it and my second baby is just rotten and wants to be the center of everyone's attention at all times.  The latter doesn't deserve to be catered to but the former does warrant a little bit of reassurance so we'll have to find a way to work this out.  Green-eyed monster - I'm on to you so watch out, your days at my house are short lived.

First Day of Spring!

Spring is here!  Spring is here!  The Waters family is READY!  Yes, we begged for snow and fully enjoyed it; however, we love all seasons and are ready for this change.  We had some really good snow but we're ready to fly kites, swing & play outside without freezing.

Saturday, the first official day of Spring, we had our chance.  We decided to go out for a leisurely drive & just do what looked fun.  The boys promptly fell asleep in the car but Ethan woke up just as we passed the Scott Co. Fairgrounds in Georgetown.  They had a great looking park which he had noticed as well.  We told him we'd come back because Alex was sleeping and we needed to wait for him to wake up.  About 15 minutes later, on a country road, Ethan said, "OH!  I have to pee!"  Once again thankful that he's a boy & can pee anywhere, we found a spot to pull over.  But, he didn't want to pee by the car - he wanted to pee in that creek...sure, why not?  He missed the creek (my fault - I didn't want to go swimming so didn't let him get close enough) but did a fine job of peeing in a gopher hole.  Life was good.

Back in the car, Alex was awake.  Ethan's first thought:  "Now can we go to the park, Mama?"  Absolutely.  This park was fantastic.  They had lots of different sizes & shapes of slides, swings & jungle gyms.  They also had two concrete things that looked like sand castles made for kids to play with their cars with little paths perfect for hot wheels type cars.  We didn't have any with us but two other little boys were very into sharing.  The boys played well for a bit but when more kids came over who were more into grabbing than sharing, it was time to go.  We didn't go far - just to get our kites.  We had great fun with Ethan's Batman, Alex's frog & Steve's dinosaur.  The frog & dinosaur were heavier nylon so harder to keep in the air than Ethan's plastic Batman.  He definitely proved to be the best flier that day.  When Alex got restless and told us it was time to go, we packed it in.  Ethan wasn't thrilled to say the least but we promised to go back another time so he relented.

Though we were out all day with only about 30 minutes of sleep in the car, the boys were really very good.  Alex went to bed a little early but Ethan got to stay up to watch Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs with me on Disney.  Poor kid though, he wanted to see it but was tired and kept asking if it was bedtime yet.  I kept telling him he could go to bed but when he realized we didn't have the movie to watch later, he opted to stay up.  If I'd checked the guide, I'd have known it was coming on again Sunday.  Then again, by staying up later, he slept till 9:30 which meant he didn't disturb his brother so we all to sleep in.  An absolutely wonderful 1st day of Spring! 

Picture is not from this weekend - from the boys first "fight kying" adventure last week.

Mama's Birthday!

I had an absolutely fantastic birthday, no, birthWEEK, this year.  It really started the week before my birthday.  We had our monthly family birthday dinner - normally for March it's just me and Leah.  This year we also had Becky, Brian & Ani Smith to celebrate.  This meant I finally got to see baby Cody up close and personal rather than just via facebook and cell phone.  He is absolutely adorable & was decked out in the cutest little green outfit - just in time for St. Patrick's Day.  I'm not sure who was cuter - Cody or sweet Amelia, full of the most bubbly, friendly personality.  Ethan hasn't really seen her all that often but talks about her quite frequently.  He and Alex had a great time playing with "the cousins."  We all really enjoyed ourselves, especially with ice cream cake and sundaes for dessert.  Then came time for presents....I got beautiful charms for my Pandora bracelet I'd gotten for Christmas - a shamrock & beautiful green bead from Katie and dangling birthstone charms for August & November from the boys; a pretty little pink purse from Eileen which is the perfect size for everything I need and cute, too - the perfect combo; the perfect size & shape of the Target card from the Gossoms and I was set.  I wasn't done yet though.  I still had my mom's present to open which we'd forgotten at home (she mailed it) - a pretty white blouse, a cute cardigan with hearts all over it and a pretty necklace along with some unmentionables completed my night.  Fantastic.

Fast forward to the day before my birthday.  Ethan had planned for over a month to take me to Gattitown for my birthday so Steve decided we should go someplace nicer for my birthday dinner the night before.  I picked O'Charley's.  At dinner Steve asked Ethan if he wanted to make a cake for my birthday.  The day before Ethan's answer to that same question was a quick & firm "no."  This time he looked at me and said, "is today you birfday, Mama?"  Me: "no, tomorrow is my birthday."  E: "Why?" (my favorite question) Me: "because 35 years ago, I wasn't born yet."  E: "Why?" Steve: "Cause she was in Nana's belly like Alex was in Mama's belly."  E (to me): "Are you still in Nana's belly?"....yeah, I guess it was a little far fetched to think that would clear it up for a 3 year old.  Oh well, back to the cake subject.  Steve decided they would make a chocolate mousse pie for me since I was going to have cake at work.  Ethan wasn't sure about that - he wanted birthday cake.  Steve told him this would be my birthday cake pie - he was satisfied with that.

Finally - my birthday arrived.  I felt at this point like I'd already had a great birthday.  Then it got better.  As I walked in the main door at work, I could see a happy birthday sign on the door to my office suite.  More signs at my desk and then my coworkers sand and had a very moist & yummy cake for me complete with signing card and gift card.  I then got more Pandora charms from my boss/friend, Linda - one with little footprints like a baby's foot - too cute.  Then I get a picture text from Steve.  It's the boys - completely covered in chocolate.  Apparently the mousse turned out great and it was yummy & they were hoping it would be even better cold....

...I met my boys at Gattitown after work as promised.  Both boys actually ate dinner without a struggle.  As our rule is if you don't eat, you don't play and I wanted to play, I was really happy for no struggle.  I then got two more charms for my bracelet including a "mom" charm from Steve - 8 charms total now.  My bracelet is looking great!  Ethan and I raced cars, played guitar hero, Deal or No Deal, air hockey, skee ball, basketball....all while Steve entertained himself and Alex with skee ball trying to get enough tickets for the boys to cash in for some cool stuff.  Almost out of points on our cards, we all rode the carosel & then got to pick out toys before heading home.  Ethan & Alex somehow managed to break the helicopter Ethan had just gotten at Gattitown but we had birthday cake pie so they didn't care for long.  I don't know how the mousse was when first done, but it was fantastic cold.

I honestly can't remember the last time my birthday was this much fun.  Thank you to everyone for your parts in that.  Especially Steve & the boys - no arguments; no one in trouble; just good, clean fun & yummy cake-pie.  :)

Fight Kying

As most of you know, Steve's job is ending next week - this week really - as Verizon directory assistance in Lexington (where he works) is closing.  As they've been transitioning calls to other locations in anticipation of the close, their call volume in Lexington has drastically dropped.  They offered to let people "surplus" out meaning take off without pay until they close then still get the severance package.  Steve instead has opted to use his vacation time rather than work the 9pm-6am schedules they've given him.  I can't blame him there as there's no way I could work all night and then keep the boys all day.  This started last week that he had vacation essentially and didn't have to go to work.  Which also happened to be when it warmed up outside.

So he had big plans with the boys last Tuesday - they were going to go buy a new kite and go kite flying at the park.  I found this out when I got home from work on that Tuesday.  As we sat down to dinner and said grace, I said at the end, "and thank you for the beautiful day today and hope for more of this tomorrow." Ethan tacked on "and go fight kying tomorrow, too."  I looked at him and then it hit me, "go kite flying?"  E:  "Uh-huh - fight kying.  We gonna go fight kying with Daddy & Owix."  Steve then told me they were going to go that day but errands and naps took up too much time.  OK - have fun boys and think about Mama stuck at work.

So Wednesday last week, I had to be there by 6:00am to help facilitate the technology for a video/web/conference call with our offices in Lexington, Asia & Europe.  As Ethan tends to wake up when I get up and take a shower and start moving around and I really didn't want him up at 5:00am, I took my shower Tuesday night and then slept downstairs on the couch so he wouldn't hear me in the morning.  This worked well in that he didn't wake up when I went to work; however, I also didn't wake up when he woke up puking at 3ish.  The miraculous part of this is that Steve didn't wake me up for it either.  He does NOT do puke.  However, Ethan had slept with him that night and had managed to puke, not in the bed, but off the side of the bed onto a pile of clothes.  Steve had only to remove Ethan's pillow case from the pillow and wipe Ethan's mouth to clean up the puke.  Realizing this made me especially happy that I hadn't gone upstairs in my sock feet to give goodbye kisses which I'd only decided against doing at the last minute.  Stepping in puke at 5:30 in the morning isn't a nice feeling.  So that was fortunate for me and when the boys & Steve did finally wake up, Steve was able to just take the pile of puked on stuff to the washer.

Unfortunately for Ethan, he had caught the stomach bug Steve, then Alex, had over the previous weekend.  Unfortunately for Steve, Ethan wasn't done puking.  And then unfortunately for Alex (& Ethan) this meant kite flying would have to wait another day.  I got periodic updates through the day, including that he puked all over the couch at one point and the comforter lovingly referred to as "mama's blanket."  The next time, Steve managed to give him the puke bucket (hospital basin) and the trash can.   Sadly, Alex had throw away the remote to our surround sound earlier and Steve hadn't noticed until AFTER the puking in the trash can.  Steve was less than thrilled as he actually had to clean that off.

I left work a little early (I'd been there since 6 so didn't feel badly about that) and went to get Ethan some gatorade as the poor kid hadn't kept down anything all day - crackers, flat ginger ale, nothing.  I got a new remote while I was there as it wasn't working after Steve cleaned it but ended up being able to clean the existing remote well enough to make it work perfectly again.  When I got home, Ethan waited for me at the door asking, "Mama - did you bwing me a dwink?  I don't feew good."  I gave him the gatorade and you'd have thought I gave him a shot of steroids or straight adrenaline because he immediately had energy again.  He managed to keep that down and then as he had applesauce for dinner while we ate chicken (again, poor kid) he said, "but I weally wanted some chicken, Mama."  He ate his applesauce though - baby steps and again prayed during grace to "pwease go fight kying" the next day. 

I then asked him to say "kite" - he obediently said, "kite."  Say "flying" - "fying."  Say "kite flying" - "kite fying."  Me:  So what do you want to do with Daddy tomorrow?  E: "Go fight kying!"  OK so he can say the words but the excitement jumbles them and honestly - it's just too cute to correct him. 

We finally got to go shopping for a kite on Friday but struck out the first 3 places we tried - including Sam's and Walmart - so had to postpone till Saturday.  Saturday was cold - so we did find kites but it was too cold to go fly them.  Sunday was the same.  So Ethan now has his kites and is patiently awaiting the next springy day so he can go fight kying with Daddy & Owix.  I personally would like to go also but will have many opportunities so won't deny them of the first shot they get just because I'm working.  As it looks right now, they may get to go on my birthday, Friday.  I just hope they get nice weather and I get pictures.

Dinner Conversation

I had to make a quick trip to Walmart after getting the boys today so rather than deny them food for the time it takes to bake the chicken I had planned to fix; I got a rotisserie chicken while there. When we got home I fixed cheddar broccoli rice - a quick 10 minutes for something they both eat well and we'd be ready for dinner. While I was fixing the rice, Ethan & Alex were playing right beside the gate (an indication of how hungry they were, I'm sure - trying to be as close to the table as possible). Dinner conversation really started at this point.

I heard Alex babbling and Ethan said, "da wat [rat]? Watigan [Ratigan]? Don't say that word." Alex, "huh? daa, uh” (I'd translate that for you, but I have no idea what he said). Ethan, "Dust don't say that word, Watigan. He's dust a bad wat." (We have digital cable and occasionally will purchase a movie for Ethan if he's been really good and we're really sick of the movies we own. About 2 months ago (or more) we rented "The Great Mouse Detective" in which the villain is a big rat named Ratigan and you were supposed to only whisper his name if you had to say it at all because he was scary and I guess saying the name might make him show up? I didn't pay close enough attention to know why they didn't want to say the word. Anyway, he watched it twice, 2 months ago and remembers it quite well still, apparently.) They continued their babble a few minutes more before I told Ethan he could take the gate down.

Ethan, "It's dinna time, Owix! Yeah, dinna...." He promptly got in his seat and Alex went to stand beside his and looked at me and said "daaa" sort of like "ummm hello, I need your help now please." As I walk towards Ethan, who is now sitting at his seat in front of his plate of chicken, he said "how come you didn't give us wice?" Me: "The rice isn't done yet sweetie. Just a minute more and I'll give it to you but you can start on the chicken." E: "Mmmmm, dis is good chicken. You made good chicken, Mama." (keep in mind, I bought the chicken cooked and basically cut it and put it on his plate - but hey, I'll take it). Me: "I make good dinner, huh? Well good then you should eat every bite." E: "Uh-huh. It's good dinna, Owix. It's yummy for us." (seeing me bringing him the rice) "And here comes the wice. Owix, this is gonna be a weally good dinna." I go to put the pot back on the stove and Ethan says, "we have to say God bless, Mama." (since many prayers start with or contain, "God bless..." (this food or Alex or Ethan) he calls prayers "God bless").

We grasp hands and say grace and you can't even begin to imagine how cute it is to see Alex & Ethan reach across the table to try to hold hands - they can't reach no matter how hard they stretch. I then put Alex's plate in the freezer for a minute to cool the rice and was carrying my plate to the table. Ethan said, "you dust need to cool mine off, too, Mama. You need to put it in the frigahator." So I did - and got myself something to drink; then got both plates out and gave them back to the boys and sat down so we could eat.

I noticed Ethan's milk, which was full when he sat at the table, was now empty. Me: "Did you drink all of your milk already?" E: "Uh-huh. I need some mo moke." (he has a habit of filling up on milk or juice so he won't eat dinner) Me: "Well you need to eat more of your dinner and then I'll get you some more." E: "I don't get chocolate moke at bedtime." Me (thinking, were we talking about chocolate milk?): "No, you don't get chocolate milk at bedtime but if you eat more of your dinner, I'll give you some chocolate milk and then you can have some cookies for dessert." E: "Ok. No, you dust said I could have eem & eem's." (at Walmart he asked for candy and I told him we already had candy at home - M&Ms from Nana. He wanted them and I told him he could have them after dinner.) Me: "Oh, I forgot. I did." E: "I'll eat my dinner and have some eem & eems and chocolate moke...who gave you and Alex, Mama?"

Me: "You tell me. Who gave me Alex?" E: "God did." (Ethan slept with me Saturday and kept telling me as he was going to sleep that he loved me. I told him I loved him, too, and I was glad he was my baby boy and that God had given him to me because he knew I needed him to be my baby boy. We then talked a few minutes about how God gave us Alex and Daddy and put us all together because we would love each other and I'd be a good Mommy for him and Daddy would be a good Daddy and he and Alex would be good baby boys, etc) Me: "That's right." E: "And who gave us Daddy?" Me: "You tell me." E: "Isaiah [the son of his babysitter] did." Me: "Noooo." E (chuckling): "GOD did!" Me: "That's right." E: "He's dust a good God." Me: "Yes, He is." E: "What is God, Mama." Me (thinking he probably had a thought on this already): "Well, what do you think?" E: "He's dust our fwiend and He's dust weally good." Me: "Yes, He is our friend. He is a really good God, huh." E: "Yes, He is a good God and He's our friend and He gave us Daddy and Owix...Owix, is that good chicken?" (ok - like the dessert conversation he is now apparently done with the God conversation so we're moving on.)

Alex eats dinner quite well when you ignore him. As soon as you start talking to him (as Ethan just did), he loses all interest in dinner and is ready to entertain. He continued the conversation all by himself at this point - babbling and laughing with Ethan. I had to tell Ethan a few times to eat so he could have dessert. About halfway into the multiple conversations, I had realized I would be blogging about this tonight. Partly because it was really cute but also to explain that it dawned on me why it takes Ethan so long to eat dinner. He is too busy socializing to eat. He has your undivided attention because all you are doing is eating so he can get some good QUALITY talk time in and he is quite the chatterbox as I've mentioned. I have the sneaking suspicion Alex will be the same way when he can really talk instead of babble & grunt. But the conversation wasn't done at that point.

Nope - we just went full circle... E: "Mama, you make weally good dinna. Dis is dust yummy." To prove his point he picked up a fistful of rice and shoveled it in and licked his fingers. I didn't complain about not using a fork because he HAD been using the fork and honestly this got a bigger bite in his mouth and sped up the process. Alex did allow me to feed him a couple more bites of rice and most of his chicken between bursts of laughter and babbling with his brother. Ethan said one more time, "Owix, isn't dis good dinna." Alex shook his head "yes." Such sweet boys and such nice dinner conversation - even if it was all over the map.

Manners

We work hard to make sure the boys will know their manners.  When we give them something, we'll say "thank you, Mama (or Daddy)" for them before they can talk.  This worked well for Ethan as when he learned to talk, he began saying "fank you Mama" when he'd get something.  We tell them "you're welcome" - which also worked on Ethan as he'd hand you something and tell you "welcome."  I'll admit he didn't fully understand when he was first talking as he'd say "welcome" when you gave him something as well.  But as he matured, he did seem to grasp it and now says "thank you" regularly.

Thank you and you're welcome aren't the only manners they need to learn of course.  Please we still work on - while thank you and you're welcome are somewhat natural to him to say now; he still needs to be reminded to say please.  Saying "excuse me" is also very important.  Ethan tends to belch quite loudly - no, I didn't miss speak.  He doesn't burp - it's a very audible belch.  So we frequently would tell him "excuse you."  We apparently added something to that quite often though as he has a twist on this phrase.  As we walked through Sears the other day on our way to The Children's Place - a favorite store for us for Easter clothes and other special outfits - Ethan belched and promptly said, "excuse me, piggy boy."  It wasn't a one time thing - he's done it every time since then as well.  Yesterday, someone else (and I truly don't remember if it was me, Steve or Alex) burped and Ethan said, "excuse you, piggy boy."  Yeah - we're definitely going to have to fix that.  Granted it was super cute and so funny but I think he really believes that's the phrase he's supposed to use.  Going to have to fix that before Alex picks it up as well.

Another one we struggle with daily - who am I kidding - HOURLY - is interrupting.  Steve and I rarely get to talk to each other when the boys are awake as we are constantly acknowledging Alex's grunts and answering Ethan's questions (yes, I realize Ethan's questioning nature is my karmic payback for the same behavior as a child).  However, occasionally we do need to update each other on stuff during waking hours and it seems to most often happen in the car.  This is probably because there's not much else to do for Ethan in the car besides talk and at the house we can easily walk away.  So when we dare to speak to each other, we try to answer Ethan as well as finish our conversation but then will ask Ethan to wait a minute so we can finish the discussion.  The reprieve lasts only a few moments before Ethan will chime in again and we'll try the ignoring thing but he gets louder and louder until we have to tell him again to please be quiet Mama (or Daddy) is talking and he needs to stop interrupting.  Mama will answer him when done talking.  It's not nice and I will not answer him right now.  It totally reminds of being in the grocery store when I was little when Mommy would try to (heaven forbid) speak to someone she knows and I or Megan, Jes or Annie would do the Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy thing asking "can I have this."  It's not like Mommy was having a 20 minute conversation - we're talking about less than 5 minutes of "hi - haven't see you in a while, how are you - good to see you, good bye" but we'd harass anyway.  Mommy - I am soooo sorry for the innumerable times I, myself, like did that.  I now realize fully how obnoxious it was and you can stop laughing now and just thank Ethan when you see him.  Daddy - same goes for you.  Aunt Eileen, Roger, Katie - anyone else who ever spent "quality" time with me when I wouldn't shut up, I humbly apologize and would really appreciate it if you'd stop laughing now and saying "ah payback."

So yes, we're working hard on manners - not talking with food in your mouth and interrupting are the current focus along with correcting "piggy boy" as part of "excuse me."  I hope my boys are always polite - for the most part, they are and I hope this trend continues.

Pete & Repeat

I've mentioned before how Ethan will boss Alex around some or more to the point, tell him to do whatever we've told him to do.  I am realizing (yes, I know I should have caught this sooner) that he's not bossing Alex - he's just repeating me.  Here is how this occurred to me:

When Alex is fussy, I'll give him his paci (which is why he was fussing anyway) and tell him to "plug it up" or "plug it up, buttercup" (in a joking way, of course).  Saturday, Ethan handed Alex his paci just out of the blue - Alex wasn't even fussing.  As he gave it to him, he said "Pwug it up, Buttacup."  Clear as can be and has since said it everytime he hands Alex the paci and half the time laughs as he says it - I guess it sounds funny even to his ears.

I also call the boys various pet names - they usually pop out of my mouth based on a rhyming sound to whatever was going on.  Recently I've been calling Alex "puddin" or "puddin popsiscle" or even "puddin popsiscle breath."  Today, when I picked up the boys, as I strapped Alex in the car, I said something to Alex and called him "puddin."  Ethan said, "yeah, pudding popsiscle, pudding popsiscle breath.  Right, Mama?" 

So if we didn't before, we definitely need to watch what we do and say more closely because Mr. Ethan has the best memory of any child I've ever seen.  At least he's repeating cute things in a nice way.

Then there's Alex - who repeats everything his brother does but not always in the best way.  If the gate is up between the kitchen & living room and Ethan is helping to clean, he throws his dirty socks and clothes over the gate into the kitchen; same with his cups, etc.  If the gate is down, Ethan puts them in the sink & the clothes in the basket.  Alex isn't so much interested in that aspect though.  He just sees the throwing part and decides that's the one to do.  Toys go in the toy pile - unless Alex puts them away - he throws them over the gate.  Clean clothes from the basket of folded clothes at the foot of the stairs - yeah, those would be fun to throw onto the kitchen floor also.  Friday night as I fixed dinner, I put Alex in the corner twice and gave Ethan the same pair of clothes 4 times to put back in the basket (if the question is why didn't I just take the clothes upstairs - I was really trying not to burn dinner and I tend to cook things on higher temps than they really require because I stupidly believe that will cook it faster but regardless of my reason it's not the best idea for me to leave them alone on the stove).  I do have to say that if Ethan is in trouble for not cleaning up a mess he made, Alex does jump in to help clean it up and will also help Ethan find his sippy if he loses it by looking around like Ethan does.

However, he also does things that his brother does that are not at all good and sometimes ends up hurting himself which then gets Ethan in trouble.  Ethan has a nasty habit of climbing on anything he thinks he can stand on and jumping on and off of the furniture.  Alex now follows suit and climbs on anything he can and invariably falls off onto something else and hurts himself.  Alex also gets up on the couch and runs from one end to the other and tries to jump off the arm - something he watched Ethan do.  Ethan has been told numerous times not to jump on the furniture.  He doesn't seem to think "because I said so" is a good enough reason but now that Alex has gotten hurt a time or 2 following Ethan's lead, I hope he's finally learning but I won't hold my breath.

So each of them is "learning" and repeating the behavior of his elders - Ethan repeats me & Steve and Alex repeats his brother.  Maybe if Steve & I can become the perfect roll models, Ethan will follow that behavior exactly and then Alex will follow that example and he'll be completely perfect, too, and the terrible 2's will never enter our house again.  Right?  That's how it works isn't it?  Hey, a girl can dream can't she?